Chapter Nine #3
Daisy gave Nathaniel a look, and he got the feeling she was trying to tell him something rather than making fun of her sister’s lack of callers.
Perhaps, as her betrothed, he should be calling on Miss Plimpton.
This was a far stretch from the quick ceremony and quiet companionship he’d been thinking of when he decided to go through with the proposal, but he was a man of his word, and there wasn’t a thing he could deny his grandmother.
“We’ve had more callers this month than in the three previous seasons combined.” Mrs. Plimpton smiled.
Nathaniel had been one of those callers, but it was clear his future mother-in-law was slighting Frances. And perhaps him as well.
While Miss Plimpton had responded to previous insults by laughing like she was party to the joke, this time she simply put on a smile and brushed it off, but Nathaniel could see it hurt her.
He could call it concern for his intended, but the truth was that it didn’t matter who it was aimed at—he couldn’t stand bullies, especially not the ones who spit their venom with a kind smile to pretend what they were saying wasn’t hurtful.
He was trying to formulate a response that wouldn’t overtly insult his future mother-in-law when his cousin spoke up.
“I’ve always believed quality matters more than quantity.” Rebecca smiled innocently.
“Of course, but—”
“Hundreds of callers would be exciting, but it’s the proposal from someone you actually wish to marry that truly matters,” Rebecca continued as if she hadn’t heard Mrs. Plimpton.
“Agreed. I never knew how allergic I was until my drawing room was covered in flowers, mostly from callers I hoped to never see again,” his grandmother shared.
“Tell the story!” Grace exclaimed, making Frances, who was across from her, jump.
Nathaniel couldn’t help but smile.
“Please do,” Daisy urged.
“Oh, it isn’t much of a story,” Grandmama argued, blushing at her husband.
“I sneezed through a dozen callers before my mother sent the rest home, claiming a prior engagement. I love the look of flowers, but it turns out I can’t be near them, especially not that many all at once.
Lord Wiltshire was one of the callers my mother sent home, but when he returned the following day, he’d left the bouquet at home and brought me a painting so I could enjoy the sight of them without feeling unwell.
He’d been my favorite of the gentlemen I’d danced with at the ball, but after that, I simply had to marry him. ”
“I’m sure it had nothing to do with his title,” Mrs. Plimpton whispered to Daisy, but given her level of intoxication, those on the settee had no problem hearing as well.
Miss Plimpton yawned in as ladylike a way as possible while still hinting that it was time for her family to leave.
“Thank you for your hospitality, but we should take our leave.” Her sister took the cue when her parents didn’t. “It was truly a wonderful evening.”
“I’m very glad to have met you, Miss Plimpton,” Grandmama said, taking both of her hands in her own, with the conspiratorial smile she used when handing out sweets between meals.
“Oh, but you must call me Frances.”
The smile she’d had for his grandmother dropped when she turned to face Nathaniel. Was she worried he would begrudge her the allowance, as seemed to be her parents’ custom?
“I would very much like that.”
“I will see you out,” Nathaniel said.
“The flowers are beautiful,” Frances mentioned as they walked into the entryway. “I admired them on my way in, but I don’t see how your grandmother can handle having so many so close.”
“She doesn’t normally. That is to say, she always has a few, because she loves to look at them when she walks by, but we thought it might make you feel more at ease if the manor looked more like a garden.”
“We?” Frances asked.
He could see the eagerness in her eyes, the excitement at the thought that it had been his doing, but he couldn’t mislead her into thinking it meant more than that he cared about her comfort.
“The family. Mostly my sisters, who also love flowers.”
“Of course. They’re very kind to think of me.”
“Ours is not a conventional courtship, or perhaps it is more usual than the love matches of my childhood. But even if I can’t give you that ideal, I will give everything I can in the hopes of making you safe and comfortable.
And happy, of course. Which means that if you would like me to call on you, I can.
You may not have…other things, but you will always have my protection. ”
“I appreciate that, my lord.”
“I believe you may allow yourself to call me Nathaniel, given the circumstances.” He gave her an apologetic look, to which she nodded. “And I daresay you have my family’s protection as well,” he added, remembering how quickly they’d jumped to her defense.
“I believe my mother is hoping your presence will bring Daisy more suitors. That’s why she is being insistent.”
“Would that please you?” he asked, but the question seemed to make her nervous.
“I would love for Daisy to marry well…”
“Then I’ll make sure to call on you this week when all the ton is watching.”
“That’s very kind, my—Nathaniel,” she corrected herself, then blushed at the way those words strung together, coloring her cheeks in an endearing way. “Daisy is quite capable of charming people on her own. Anyone who courted her simply to get close to you…”
“Is less than your sister deserves.”
“And there’s no need for you to parade us around. Your family’s reputation is beyond reproach.”
“I hoped you would enjoy them, although they can be a bit much.”
She smiled. “It’s obvious that you love each other.”
“Don’t all families?” he said without thinking, hating the way she momentarily became sad.
“I suppose so, but you like each other as well.”
“That depends on the day,” he joked.
“You have a wonderful family,” she said like she meant it with every fiber of her being, and needed him to understand.
“As do—”
“Please don’t lie,” she stopped him. “In my head, you are the most kind and honorable man I’ve ever met, but if you finish that sentence, I will know you are not honest, and it may break my heart.” She said it teasingly, but he didn’t think she was.
“I was glad to meet your sister. She takes after you.”
Her shock was genuine, before it turned into a laugh. “Daisy is still figuring out who she wants to be, but it does look like she is holding on to the best parts of each of us. I can only wish to someday have half her grace and confidence.”
“You already do.”
They were at her family’s carriage, so he brushed his lips above her knuckles.
“I’ll see you soon, Frances.”